Geography 5: People and the Earth’s Ecosystems

Final Paper

LAB REPORT DUE DATE: Sunday, June 7th, 2019, 11:59 p.m.*
*No late submissions will be accepted

PROJECT OVERVIEW:
This project is designed to give you the opportunity to learn more about an environmental
issue/problem that is of interest to you. You will explore the causes and consequences of the
environmental issue and suggest a plan for the future. This is your chance to become an expert
on a topic of interest to you, so do an excellent job on it.

Choose a specific topic that fits within the scope of the class. [Examples: “Air Pollution in
Los Angeles” or “Population control measures in China.”] Your topic should imply a specific
issue and location. “Global sea level rise” is too broad, but “Effects of sea level rise on the
Louisiana coastline” would be more appropriate.

This assignment consists of a final paper, which will serve as the collected written and visual
(maps, charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, and photos) results of your research. This is an
individual project and so group work is not permitted. Any form of plagiarism will be
considered a violation of academic honesty policies. This includes copying text from other
sources without attribution and reusing parts of a paper from a previous class.

You will be graded on the quality of the information and analysis, the quality of your writing,
and on meeting the guidelines listed below. A grading rubric will be distributed.

Once you have identified a specific environmental issue, start your research so you can
address all of the following topics (you might modify this depending on your specific issue):

1. Location
a. Identify the spatial scale of the issue (local, regional, national, global). Pick a
scale to focus on if the issue spans multiple scales.
b. Describe the geography associated with the problem. What is the climate of
your study area? What processes create this climate? Which
ecosystems/biomes are affected?
2. Specifics of the problem
a. What is the history of this issue? When did it start? Has the issue been
improving or worsening?
b. What is the science behind this issue? What are the underlying causes of this
issue/problem?
c. What are the consequences/impacts of this issue? How are humans affected?
3. Larger consequences of the problem
a. Are there other cases of this same issue/problem in other locations?
b. Are there global consequences to this issue?
4. Solutions/Policy
 a. What are the potential solutions to this problem? How realistic are they?
b. Identify and describe any organizations that are acting to address this
environmental issue (these organizations can be valuable sources of
information about the issue).
c. Have these solutions been applied with any success?
5. Conclusion
a. What is the likelihood that this issue will ever be resolved?
b. Are there any over-arching lessons to be learned from this issue?

PAPER GUIDELINES:
Please include in your paper:
1. 1,000 – 2,000 words of text not counting figures and bibliography (4-8 pages double
spaced or 2-4 pages single spaced text, again not including figures and bibliography).
Please use 12-point font, with one-inch margins
2. Create a title for your paper that captures your research topic
3. Describe the problem, its history, its causes, the consequences/impacts on humans, and
some suggestions for what can be done to address this issue.
4. A map of the study area (cite the source)*
5. At least one image or figure describing some aspect of issue/problem (cite the
source)*
6. Section headings (i.e. Introduction, Historical Context, Solutions, etc.)
7. In-text citations and a bibliography of all the sources you cited in your research. You
may use any citation format (MLA, APA, etc.) as long as you are consistent
throughout.
8. A minimum of seven cited sources, at least three of which must be primary sources.
See the following link for a description of what we mean by primary source:
https://sccollege.edu/Library/Pages/primarysources.aspx. You are encouraged to go
beyond this minimum requirement.

SCHEDULE:

Week 7: Topic selected and draft annotated bibliography completed

Week 8: Abstract and outline completed

Week 9: Draft of paper completed

Week 10: Peer review

Final paper due Sunday, June 7th at 11:59 pm

SUGGESTIONS FOR STARTING YOUR RESEARCH:

Your textbook describes a large number of environmental issue/problems through case

studies. However, you will have to do research outside of your textbook as well. Consider
using Google Scholar to search keywords (for example, ‘Harmful algal blooms’ or ‘Bee
Colony Collapse Syndrome’). You need to find at least three primary sources related to your
topic. If you find information in popular sources (e.g. newspapers, magazines, Wikipedia),
you must follow up on the original published sources. So, if an article in the Science section
of the New York Times discusses Bee Colony Collapse Syndrome, find and read the original
scientific publications by the researchers. Make clear where all of your information is coming
from, especially data and statistics. Think critically about these sources of information. How
reliable are they? What biases might these sources have?